Joyce's Supermarket in St. Martinville has house-made sausages that are some of their most popular items.

The meat counter, as it is called at Joyce's Supermarket in St. Martinville, is constantly busy. There is a great array of hand-cut meats ranging from steaks to pork chops to meaty country ribs. But, it's the many choices of house-made sausages that are the most popular items.

Lowell Gauthier and his son, Harvey, are, in my book, expert sausage makers who produce their products fresh, making them early every morning before the doors open. For example, they make a superlative smoky andouille -- chunky and spicy -- that can turn an ordinary gumbo into a great one, and is also a great base for a po-boy. The chaurice, an unsmoked course-ground sausage, is also a good bet. You can also select from their display of fresh sausage: pork, pork with green onions, pork and beef with green onions, and on and on.

And they don't stop there.

Their tropical sausage combines pork with crushed pineapple and just the right amount of garlic, pepper and onions. I often offer it an appetizer, grilled and drizzled with Creole mustard atop a toasted slice of French bread. The apple-pork sausage is a great accompaniment to my breakfast of soft scrambled eggs and biscuits. The bumblebee sausage combines pork, honey and jalapeno peppers, and I can't get enough of it. A new item is their red plum sausage, which has a sweet and sour flavor I find quite interesting.

My mother, a farmer's daughter, loved sausage and one of her (and now mine) favorite winter suppers is fresh pork sausage, cooked in the oven in a baking pan for about 40 minutes, served with creamy-cheesy grits, creamy baby lima beans and a wedge of skillet corn bread drizzled with Steen's cane syrup. My husband calls it a "big-girl supper." Yep, I would indeed become an overly large girl if I ate that too often.

If you like andouille, give these rice cakes are try. When crawfish is in season, I suggest serving them topped with a big spoonful of crawfish etouffee.

Andouille rice cakes

3 ¼ tablespoons vegetable oil

½ cup chopped onions

½ cup chopped bell peppers

1 rib celery, chopped

4 ounces andouille, chopped

2 cups chicken stock

2 teaspoons salt

Hot sauce to taste

1 ¼ tablespoons all-purpose flour

3 cups cooked long-grain rice

2 tablespoons chopped green onions

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Seasoned flour for dredging

Vegetable oil for frying

Heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the onions, bell peppers and celery and cook, stirring, until they are soft, about 5 minutes.

Add the andouille and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. The mixture will become brown. Add the chicken stock, salt and hot sauce and bring to a boil.

In a small skillet, combine the remaining 1¼ tablespoons of vegetable oil and the unseasoned flour over medium heat and make a blond roux. Add this roux to the andouille mixture and simmer for about 5 minutes, stirring until the mixture thickens.

Remove from heat. Cool, stirring occasionally, for about 20 minutes. Once the mixture has cooled down, add the rice, green onions and parsley. Mix well.

Cover and refrigerate until the mixture has cooled completely. Form the rice mixture into 2-inch patties (about l4 patties). Lightly dredge or sprinkle lightly with the seasoned flour.

In a nonstick skillet, heat 2 to 3 tablespoons of the vegetable oil over medium-high heat and pan-fry 2 to 3 patties at a time, for several minutes on each side until lightly browned. Repeat the process until all of the patties are cooked.

. . . . . . .

The Gauthiers at Joyce's have also come up with an Italian sausage that I use in my version of Francis Ford Coppola's spaghetti sauce.

Francis Ford Coppola's spaghetti sauce

Makes 6 servings

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 ½ pounds sweet Italian sausage, removed from the casing

1 tablespoon minced garlic

1 ¼ cup minced onions

1 cup dry red wine

1 (28-ounce) can plum tomatoes

1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste

1 tablespoon dried sweet basil

Salt

Sugar

In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the sausage and cook, stirring and breaking it up with a spoon until completely browned.

Add the garlic and onions and cook, stirring until the onions are soft, 6 to 8 minutes. Stir in the red wine. Add the tomatoes and tomato paste. Rinse the remnants of the paste out of the can with water, adding the water to the pot. Add the basil and season with salt and sugar to taste.

Reduce the heat to low and simmer, stirring occasionally and adding water if the sauce becomes too thick, for about 2½ hours. Serve over spaghetti with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

. . . . . . .

I don't remember where I found this next recipe, but it's something I enjoy for a Sunday night supper with crusty French bread and a Waldorf salad.

Saucisson chaud a la Lyonnaise

Makes 6 servings

1 pound fresh pork sausage

3 pounds boiling potatoes, cut into ¼-inch slices

Boiling salted water

¼ cup chicken stock or broth

¼ cup white wine vinegar

2 teaspoons salt

½ teaspoon dry mustard

½ cup olive oil

2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions (green and white parts)

¼ cup finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

Prick the sausage randomly with the tip of a sharp knife 5 to 6 times to prevent the skin from bursting and to release the fat as it cooks. Lay the sausage in a large skillet and add enough tap water to cover it completely. Bring to a boil over medium heat and simmer uncovered for 45 minutes. Transfer the sausage to paper towels to drain and cool. Then split open the skin and peel it off.

While the sausage is cooking, cook the potato slices in boiling salted water in a large saucepan over medium heat until just tender, 12 to 15 minutes. Drain in a colander and then transfer to a large salad bowl.

Heat the chicken stock and pour it over the warm potatoes, tossing gently once or twice and let stand for 5 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk the vinegar, salt and dry mustard together. Pour over the potatoes and toss gently again to coat evenly. Let stand for 5 minutes more then pour in the olive oil, add the green onions and parsley and toss gently again.